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Windows 98 in a Microdrive?

D

DaCiRo

Experienced Member
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Jan 13, 2014
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169
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Japan
Wondering if it is possible to run Windows 98 in from a Microdrive (i.e.: Hitachi 6gb).

I think this drive's spin at 3600 RPM; Would that be too slow for Win98 and running MSOffice apps (excel, etc...). I know that the standard back then were the 5400RPM and 7200RPM,....yet wondering of a 3600RPM Microdrive would cut it.

What about the speed of WIN based games of the era? (~2002 approx)
 
IDE-CF adapters are cheap, so why not just try it?

I have tested win 3.1, 95, NT 4.0, 98 and 2000 on a CF card with no problems.
 
Well, not sure if rpm are or not the only thing to consider, but it is the only difference I can tell. I know for sure there is no issue running DOS based applications and Win 3.11 in a microdrive, but wondering if would be a complete different thing when running Win98.

Installing it would not be a problem, and would most probably load, but wondering if the speed would be unbearable to run, and make Win games stall or just run dead slow.
 
It seems to me there are CNC controls running XP using drives like that with no issues.
 
Was this microdrive pulled out of an old MP3 player?
I've found that there is a difference between the OEM and retail versions. Visually identical but the OEM ones seem to have the disk mode disabled so you can't use them as hard drives in computers and digital cameras.i have a stack here that I pulled from a bunch of junk iPod minis and while they format and restore fine on another working iPod they all fail to work on my Canon EOS 1D.
 
Might be from an old ipod, however it runs well as Master disk in DOS.
If by the post above novoiperkele was able to run Win 2000 in a CF card, then it might just as well work in a microdrive,..... I supouse, unless anyone has a different experience.
 
Why SD? CF adapters and cards are a lot cheaper and don't require intermediate logic.

Might be from an old ipod, however it runs well as Master disk in DOS.
Click to expand...
Okay so then if you can boot it it will work under 98 no problem. To the BIOS a Microdrive looks like any other hard disk and you should be able to put any OS you want on it.
 
Right in front of me stands a thin client with the DOM replaced by a 6GB microdrive partitioned to run Win98SE, and NetBSD. So yeah, it's quite possible.

I've been running a similar setup with a 5GB Seagate microdrive since 2007 running Debian Etch 24/7 as a mailserver and firewall. So, contrary to speculation, I've found them to be quite robust.

However, if you're going to run XP on one, you need to use a "workaround" for removable media or you won't be able to have a swap file on one, nor partition it into more than a single partition. There's a Samsung layered driver available that masks the "removable" status. Win98 doesn't have that issue, fortunately.
 
The Microdrives are really "OK" as a harddisk. I think the speed is comparable to a "slow" HDD of that era. If speed is an issue then use a RAM-DISK or a RAID array of modern intel SSDs. But for pretty much all games i know from that era HDD was never the bottleneck, rather processor.
 
ROFL, I keep reading the title as "Windows 98 in a Microwave".

Just throw the CD in the microwave oven and cook for 4 minutes. Let stand for one minute before serving. Warning: Internet Explorer Filling may be hot. :)
 
novoiperkele said:
CF is a dying media.

SD:s are as fast as cf, and there are more and better quality cards available. Also sd cards are way cheaper.
Click to expand...

SD is a slow and expensive media in comparison. Especially when you factor in that an IDE to CF adapter is around $3 while an SD adapter is $15.
 
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